Under the old state statute that limited the property tax rates of the Chicago Public Schools, Tax Increment Financing directly restricted property tax revenues available to CPS because it froze part of the equalized assessed value (EAV)—the tax base—available for taxation.1 This rate limit statute still exists, but it no longer impacts the school district’s tax levy due to the introduction of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL, often called “tax caps”) in 1995, which limits…
Chicago Public Schools has received almost $400 million in Tax Increment Financing revenue from the creation of the first City of Chicago TIF in 1984 through July 2009 and is scheduled to receive over $491.3 million more according to intergovernmental agreements with the City of Chicago. CPS has used TIF funding to renovate or build elementary and high schools and is planning to use $14 million for ADA accessibility improvements to 15 schools. Approximately 45% of the $399.0 million received so…
One of the Civic Federation’s ongoing concerns has been transparency in the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) by the City of Chicago and State of Illinois. Although the Civic Federation supports the use of TIF as municipal economic development tool, we believe that there is insufficient transparency in the availability and quality of TIF information provided to the public. The Civic Federation has published two pieces on TIF, an issue brief and a companion position statement about the use…
Did you ever wonder how your property tax dollars are spent by the City of Chicago? How many people work for the Department of Streets and Sanitation? How much those employees are paid? What kinds of taxes and fees the City levies and how much revenue it gets from each one? The answers to these and many other questions can be found in the City of Chicago’s budget documents and audited financial report. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are four City budget documents published…
Police, parks, streets, schools, community colleges, public hospitals, elections, courts, jails, mosquito abatement, sewage treatment…these are just a few of the services that, in Illinois, are provided by many different local governments. Illinois has more units of local government than any other state in the nation, with 6,994 as of October 2007. Many of these governments rely on property taxes as a revenue source. Whether you are an owner or renter of property, you pay property taxes to a…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2009 include public pension reform, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, requiring all counties to hold budget hearings, requiring large counties to produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform, requiring school financial management accountability reforms, and authorizing state and local government entities to…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2008 include public pension reform, tax increment financing disclosure, creation of a separate board of commissioners for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, school financial management accountability reforms, property tax assessment appeal reforms, timely county audits, and retiree health care trust fund authorization.
The Civic Federation supports Tax Increment Financing as an economic development tool but recommends that there be much greater transparency in the quantity and quality of TIF information provided to the public. The Federation recommends including full financial information about TIF in all municipal budgets, making TIF information easily accessible on the internet, and undertaking a comprehensive review of each TIF district every ten years. This position statement is a companion report to…
This report explains the impact of TIF on taxpayers and local governments in Illinois. It also reviews the TIF designation process, recent empirical research on TIF, and provides detailed information on selected City of Chicago TIF Districts. It is a companion report to the Civic Federation Position Statement on TIF.
This research study analyzed the effect tax increment financing has upon economic development and the property tax base in the 6 counties of northeastern Illinois and selected municipalities in that region.
